Having decided to put aside New Year’s resolutions, my only wish for 2022 is to read more. I feel quite nostalgic lately for the part of childhood when it was okay to sit for hours and devour a book in one go, content and without other distractions.

That being said, here is my list of hopeful reads for the New Year. A few are recommendations from friends, while others have been on bestseller lists for a while. Some haven’t been released yet and are exciting new voices that I think will be popular. Also in the mix are some classics that even I don’t know how I’ve avoided for so many years (looking at you, Sylvia).

If you’re stuck for your next read, hope this helps a little! And if you have any recommendations yourself, I would really like to know them…

1. Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell

The imaginary story of Shakespeare’s son who died at the age of eleven. After being gravely ill as a child, O’Farrell became fascinated with the Bard’s son and how his death inspired the famous play, Hamlet. It explores a life subjugated by the footnotes of history and the legacy of mourning.

2. Snot defined, Jessie Cave

Sunset focuses on the relationship and heartbreak of two sisters. Known for his comedy Sunrise, Cave also openly discusses the consequences of losing a sibling. Sunset is the culmination of all these facets of Cave, a funny yet heartbreaking story that honors brotherhood.

3. My body, Emily Ratajkowski

Following Redeem myself, Ratajkowski’s essay deals with self-ownership and the pressures of the male gaze in the world of modeling. Growing up, Emily Ratajkowski has been the standard of beauty to which many aspired; it is this uneasy dynamic that makes his work so interesting.

4. Neapolitan novels, Helen Ferrante

The Neapolitan series follows two childhood friends. Gifted children, their lives take different paths after only one can afford to continue their education. The novels explore the intersection of class and gender, and the resilience of friendship.

5. The transgender issue Shon Faye

Hailed as a monumental work in understanding and celebrating what transgender liberation means in modern Britain.

6. Shuggie Bath, Douglas Stuart

Set in 1980s Glasgow, Shuggie bath follows the life of a young boy, touching on topics ranging from alcoholism to the experience of homosexuality in working-class communities.

seven. The wide, Caleb Azumah Nelson

A lyrical representation of an affair between two artists in London. Azumah Nelson has won acclaim both for the novel’s celebration of young black identity in Britain and for its unconventional and expressive second-person storytelling.

8. The right to sex Amia Srinivasan

Srinivasan examines the politics and ethics of sex in society. It discusses issues ranging from race to pornography to the politics behind conventional “attractiveness”.

9. Years, Annie Ernaux

Ernaux is renowned for his autobiography, but Years is also the biography of an entire generation. Spanning from 1941 to 2006, the narrative follows collective lives and the changes they experience.

ten. Notes on grief (released 2022), Annie Lord

Lord’s book explores the different nuances of his own grief after a breakup. A columnist for vogue, Lord’s writing is visceral and moving, as well as funny in its self-awareness.

11. Aimmal, Lisa Taddeo

Following the success of Three Women, Animal’s protagonist is a deeply flawed woman, forced to deal with the trauma of her past.

12. Everybody: A Book About Freedom, Olivia Laing

Laing is personally one of my favorite writers. Her latest work examines the power and vulnerability of the body, questioning how it can live and resist oppression.

13. Black and British: a forgotten history, David Olusoga

Challenging the marginalization of black experiences in history, Olusoga’s in-depth study spans from Roman times to the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

14. The secret story, Donna Tartt

Cited as the start of the “dark academy” genre, Tartt’s detective story centers on a group of classical students at their prestigious university.

15. Night sky with exit wounds, Ocean Vuong

Vuong’s first collection of poetry; a dive into sexuality, masculinity, and experiences as an immigrant to America.

16. Poor Sick Little Girls – A Love Letter to Unacceptable Women (2022 release), Ione Gamble

Having become chronically ill at the age of nineteen, Gamble discusses her relationship with feminism. The trend of empowering “girl bosses” was out of reach for her and her disability, leading her to forge her own path and identity.

17. nobody talks about it, Patricia Lockwood

Lockwood’s debut novel explores the reality of our online lives and the power of human connection.

18. Where the Crawdads sing, Delia Owen

The story of a young woman who grows up isolated from her town, known to them only as “the swamp girl”. A coming-of-age novel, the tension comes once she begins to yearn for acceptance and love from this community, with some members becoming equally fascinated.

19. glass bell, Sylvia Plath

Plath’s classic novel needs little explanation, often a placeholder on “100 Books to Read Before You Die” lists.

20. Catch-22, Joseph Heller

Another permanent item on the “100 Books to Read Before You Die” list, Heller’s satirical novel is set during World War II and illustrates the madness of war. I also just want to know the origins of the phrase “Catch-22!”

21. The Virgin Suicide, Jeffrey Eugenides

I’ve wanted to read this for a while, following Jia Tolentino’s ‘Pure Heroines’ essay; the Lisbon sisters are used as a prime example of the complication and limitations surrounding teenage girl characters in literature.

22. Wildfell Hall Tenant, Anne Bronte

Originally on my list because I felt guilty for always neglecting the third Brontë sister, I’m quite happy to hear that Wildfell Hall Tenant is considered the Bronte’s “most shocking novel”. Good for Anne.